CHICAGO -- In CIO circles, bimodal IT has been a conversation starter: How can an enterprise's information leadership balance the necessity of keeping the lights on against the challenge of adopting emerging, business-changing technologies?

Download this free guide

Could Securing Your Channel Business Be Easier? We Can Help.

Download our latest guide to the top strategies solution providers can leverage for starting up and securing a cloud practice, successful approaches to selling and marketing cloud, and why it is urgent for partners to transition now.

Projected customer spending patterns suggest partners should begin cultivating those promising technologies. Practicality and the psychology of previous investment suggest they should also remain engaged in their traditional practice areas.

Kevin Murai, president and CEO of Synnex Corp. and Wednesday's keynote speaker, suggested partners should indeed attempt to cover both bases. Murai cited IDC research to make his point: What IDC describes as second-platform technology, essentially PCs and client-server architecture, will represent 57% of the total IT spend by 2020, while third-platform technology -- cloud, social, mobile and big data -- will soak up 43% of the spend. He said it's his understanding that IDC may upwardly revise the third platform's share of the market.

"Don't forget that legacy is still a big piece of where the IT spend is," Murai advised. "But the growth is going to be in the third platform."

In light of that expansion, he said partners should direct their investment dollars to sectors such as cloud, big data analytics, social media and mobile.

Bimodal IT strategy: Two speeds

Tiffani Bova, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, said partners -- along with their customers and vendor allies -- are running at two speeds. She compared mode one -- keeping the lights on, managing long-term projects, pursuing waterfall deployments -- as running a marathon. Mode two, meanwhile, calls for innovation as partners deliver products and services in new ways and to non-traditional customers such as line-of-business managers. Bova said mode two is a sprint, noting that organizations experience a conflict between mode two and mode one.

"We have had time to figure out how to adjust our business to the cloud, but that change will accelerate at a more rapid pace going forward," he said.

Advice for the third platform

Murai offered some advice for partners considering a transition to the expanding third-platform technologies. For starters, a company needs to have an understanding of what is happening in the market today and what the market will look like in three years. With that knowledge, the partner can adjust its business model to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risk, he said.

In addition, a channel partner must get a handle on its competitive position. Fifteen years ago, most channel companies had similar business models, Murai noted. That's no longer the case, however.

"How do you effectively compete against some of the new entrants that don't necessarily have the same legacy anchors that you have in your business today?" Murai asked.

Partners also need to define what success looks like and have a clear and measurable plan for getting to the finish line, he added.

"Know what success looks like a year from now," Murai said. "What do you want your headline to be?"

Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA's president and CEO, said channel companies hoping to retool their businesses won't find it an easy task.

Thibodeaux informally polled attendees during his keynote address to gauge the extent to which digital transformation has impacted their businesses. The results: Most attendees report managed services have had a major influence on their businesses but have seen less impact from cloud, mobility and health IT.

1 comment

Register

Login

Forgot your password?

Your password has been sent to:

By submitting you agree to receive email from TechTarget and its partners. If you reside outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Privacy